Nullah News - National & International 01

Nullah News - National 01 - Lucknow
‘Work on desilting of nullahs expected to finish on June 30’

Nullah Deadline(D)

- Lucknow, June 28: “Work has already been started and is expected to finish by June 30. The contractors have been asked to give a compliance report on the same date,” he said. He added that officials have been asked to expedite work considering the arrival of the monsoon. “Water logging can be avoided in the city if the nullahs are cleaned properly before monsoon,” Singh said.

- The city has around 569 nullahs. Nullahs less than one metre-deep are desilted by the Heath Department of the LMC, while those deeper than one metre are desilted by the Engineering Department and the Rubbish Removal Department. Acting Nagar Swasthya Adhikari A K Pandey said that all 328 nullahs that are supposed to be desilted by the Health Department have been desilted once and another round of work has been started.

- Municipal Commissioner Shailesh Kumar Singh said contractors will not be paid for areas that are either waterlogged or not desilted before June 30.

- Meanwhile, the anti-encroachment team of the LMC removed around 150 temporary or permanent structures in different zones. Harveer Singh said some structures were as old as 20 years and were constructed on the nullahs.
News Source - The Indian Express - Friday , June 29, 2007



Nullah News - International 01 - Islamabad
Nullah Cleansing or Civic Sense Infliction

Responsible Behaviour

-A special campaign for cleaning nullahs has begun in Islamabad on the directives of CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari. During the campaign, garbage in nullahs would be taken out to ensure a clean water flow. The CDA has directed citizens not to throw waste in nullahs and sewerage lines and to cooperate with the authorities in the campaign.

-OK Good enough - though I think Islamabad's sewerage lines are much "cleaner" than our twin city's or Lahore or any other city's nullahs. The thing of UTMOST importance is to teach our people at least some civic sense - when proper bins and carts come for taking the daily garbage then why the heck the need arises to litter in nullahs ???

-I've seen people going in 75+ Lacs of car and still throwing garbage, wrappers, cans out on the road - can't they keep some bags with them to collect their litter and throw it when they reach home??

-Don't we own some responsible behaviour here???
News Source - Metro Blogging, Islamabad, Pakistan, February 27, 2007


Nullah News - International 01 - Islamabad
Water and Waste

Murky Depths

- Has anybody else noticed how ill maintained and seriously deteriorated the city's water and sanitation system is? It is something that comes to for every time the rains come. Islamabad has the slight advantage over most cities in that it is a planned one which means that most if it does not face the conventional problems of water standing and stagnating on roadways. However, move away from the older sectors in to ones located to the edge of the city, including F-11, I-8, I-10 etc and you will find pools burgeoning every few kilometers.

- Besides that, lots of basements and relatively low lying houses, and those located in natural depressions complain often of floods of waste and muck. Lots of people end up calling for CDA pumps to clean out the areas that for days reek of stench and sewerage.

- It is a well known truth that all the waste from Islamabad's sectors, including industrial waste culminates in the various "nullahs" flowing between and under the streets before culminating in the Nullah Leh. These health hazards are becoming more acute with each passing day as in addition to the underground waste, these nullahs are also a dumping ground for a lot of the city's garbage. In spite of dumpsters in every other street, it is very convenient simply to toss bags and bins from car windows into the murky depths of these rivers of filth.

- As these nullahs flow deeper through Islamabad and Rawalpindi into relatively closer knit and lower level communities, areas and townships, what is not very conceivable for us is that these nullahs become the source of water for some areas as well. The drinking part, but old-style "dhobi-ghaats" and using this water to wash dishes and clothes personally is quite common.

- What is seriously worrying is that nobody really knows the state of the pipes and tubes and things under the city that make up its sewerage system. Decay and a poor checks and maintenance methods mean that water contamination is a very real problem. Similarly drains bubbling up due to blockages in streets and out on roads are also very common.

- An ineffective and poorly retained drainage system is a health risk, giving birth to possible ailments relating to skin and breathing at the simplest and if not contained and corrected, could bloom into serious ailments especially if the lines carrying waste merge with water lines. It has happened before and needs to be addressed by the Capital Development Authority at the earliest!
News Source - Metro Blogging, Islamabad, Pakistan, July 23, 2006